Missing

Category: Everybody

Part 1

Maria DeLuca looked at the four people entering the Crashdown...the pod squad. She turned to her best friend Liz Parker.

“I think you would like to take your break now,” she said.

“Why?” Liz asked.

“Because prince charming just came in,” Maria said, referring to Max Evans, Liz’s boyfriend.

Liz turned around and found herself staring in to Max´s eyes. “I think I´ll do that” she said without taking her eyes off Max.

Liz started to walk away and heard Maria yell behind her. “Tell Michael he owes me 10 bucks!”

“You can tell him your self” Liz yelled back. “They’re here to eat you know. They are going to need a waitress.

“But you...” Maria started.

“I’m on my break, remember” Liz said with a big smile on her face.

“Yeah, yeah… I always get to do the hard work around here” Maria muttered to her self.

“So what can I get my alien friends today” Maria asked with a cheerful voice. “Just the usual” Max said smiling at her.

“Yeah, and can I get a kiss from one of the waitresses?” Michael Guerin asked.

“Which one?” Maria asked innocently.

“Oh, anyone will do” Michael teased.

“Please stop flirting and just do it already,” Isabel Evans said annoyed.

"I'm just wondering spaceboy," Maria said, ignoring Isabel's comment. "How come that yesterday you were mad at me and now you want a kiss?"

“Well today is a new day” Michael said and dragged Maria down on his lap and kissed her passionately.

Tess Harding, who had been quiet ever since the pod squad came to The Crashdown, suddenly screamed.

Everybody turned to look in the direction Tess was looking and realised why she had screamed.

A man across the room just pulled out a knife.

“Okay, so where is Maria DeLuca?” the man asked.

Maria froze. Why was this man looking for her? And why did he have a knife?

“Don’t say anything” she heard Michael whisper in her ear.

“What are you two whispering about?” The man asked, pointing the knife at Michael and Maria. He walked towards the booth they were sitting in.

He looked them over and his eyes stopped at Maria's chest.

“So you are Maria DeLuca,” he said looking at Maria´s nametag.

“Well...” Maria started

“You don’t look like I had pictured you,” he said, interrupting her. He grabbed Maria´s arm and pulled her up, but Michael pulled him away and placed himself protectively in front of Maria.

“If you touch her again I will kill you” Michael said, trying to stay calm.

“Oh, how cute...a protective boyfriend” the man said sarcastically. “Maybe you would like me to take this little girl instead” he said and pulled a little girl in the nearest booth over to him.

He held the knife to the girls’ throat and looked at Michael.

The little girls’ mother let out a high scream.

“No! Please don’t” Maria pleaded and pushed Michael aside, so she stood and looked the man in the eye.

“Do what ever you want with me, but please don’t hurt anyone else”. Maria was so scared that she was surprised that she could even talk.

“Maria...Don’t go with him,” Liz said with tears in her eyes.

“Liz, I have to. I can’t let anyone else get hurt,” Maria said looking at her best friend. She turned to the man. “Let the little girl go” she demanded. The man did what she said, and the little girl went straight into her mother’s open arms.

The man grabbed Maria by the arm and went for the door.

The five teens could just sit there and watch an armed and probably dangerous man, take their friend away.

Part 2

As soon as the door closed, Max, Michael, Liz, Isabel and Tess rose to their feet and ran after the man and Maria.

But it was too late. They got out just in time to see a car drive of with Maria in it.

“Oh my god” Liz said clearly terrified. What are we going to do?” Max went up to her and took her in his arms. “Max she’s gone...Maria is gone.” Liz said and couldn’t hold it in anymore. She started to hysterically cry into Max´s chest.

“It is going to be okay,” Max said. “We are going to get her back. Everything will be okay”. But everybody could hear the fear in Max´s voice.

He was just as afraid as the others were.

Michael pulled Isabel and Tess into a hug.

“Why didn’t you use your powers?” Liz asked between cries. Her voice was so quiet that the others almost didn’t hear her.

“I couldn’t” Tess said. “It was something stopping me”. “Me too” Max added.

“Something terrible is happening. And it seems to have something to do with the fact that we are aliens” he continued.

“I don’t care what’s going on with our powers” Michael said. “All I care about is finding Maria”.

“Of course that is what’s important” Isabel said. “I’ve already lost Alex, and I don’t know what I would do if we lost Maria too”. At the mention of Alex’s name she started to cry even harder then before.

“So what’s the plan?” Tess asked. She looked around at the faces of her friends. Nobody had an answer to her question. Until they figured out where Maria was, all they could do was hope...

Liz sat alone in her room. She couldn’t believe that Maria was gone.

She could already feel the emptiness without her best friend. What would she do if Maria never came back? What would she do without Maria´s bad jokes? Without her optimistically charm?

She couldn’t believe that she had just recently lost Alex and now she might be loosing Maria too.

She would still have Max...but that wasn’t the same. She loved Max so much, but she couldn’t talk to him about everything, like she could with Maria and Alex.

They were the best friends you could ever have.

But why was Liz thinking like Maria was gone forever? They would come up with a plan to get her back. Wouldn’t they?

Part 3

Isabel put her finger on a picture of Maria. Lately, she and Maria had grown closer, so it was easy to make the connection. Apparently she could use her dreamwalking-powers but she couldn’t do anything else.

Maria was having a nightmare. She was strapped to a table and she was being tortured. Just like with Max, Isabel thought.

Isabel stepped into Maria´s dreamorb and went over to her.

Luckily, at the dreamplane, Isabel could do whatever she wanted to.

Isabel tried to think of a place where Maria would feel calm.

Michael, she realised. She would feel safe in Michael’s apartment. So she snapped herself and Maria there.

“I’ve been waiting for you Isabel” Maria said as soon as they got there. She gave Isabel a fast hug and then her expression turned serious.

“How did you now I was coming?” Isabel asked, surprised.

“I could sense you”.

“Wow! Well we don’t really have time to talk about that right now,” Isabel said, remembering the reason why she was here.

“Do you know where you are?” she asked.

“I have no idea,” Maria said. “They did not let me see anything on the way. They gave me something so that I went to sleep. So I don’t even know how long time it took to get here,” Maria said in a rush. Isabel could see that she was shaking. She took a step forward and gave Maria a tight hug.

The tension in Maria´s body seemed to ease a little bit.

“I really, really wish I did know” Maria continued.

“We’re going to find you anyway” Isabel told her. “We will find a way” she promised.

Isabel wished that she would know that for sure. That she knew that she and the others were going to get their Maria back. But she didn’t.

“I sure hope so,” Maria said. “Because it’s not just me you have to save”.

“What do you mean?” Isabel asked with concern.

“There’s another person involved now,” Maria said sadly.

“Who? What are you talking about?” Isabel was getting really worried. What was Maria talking about? Were there any more people with Maria?

Maria looked Isabel straight in the eyes.

“I´m pregnant”...

”Shouldn’t Isabel be back by now?” Michael asked.

“I don’t know” Max answered. “But it probably just means that she has found Maria and that she is talking to her”.

That didn’t make Michael feel any less worried. Maria was gone and they didn’t know where she was.

He promised himself that if they found her...no when they found her, he would never let her out of his sight.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sound from Isabel.

He looked at her and saw that she had woken up.

“Are you okay?” Max asked immediately.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Isabel said. “But Maria isn’t”.

“Why? What are they doing to her?” Michael demanded.

“They are doing tests on her,” Isabel said, avoiding Max´s gaze. “Like with Max”.

“We can not let them do that to her” Max said.

Michael could almost feel the anger coming from Max. This has to be hard on him, Michael thought. Max had gone through it himself when he was captured by Pierce.

Michael could not let Maria go through that too.

“Did she say where she was?” Michael asked.

“She didn’t know” Isabel said with tears in her eyes.

Before Michael could, Max embraced her in a hug.

Isabel continued: “She did say something else though,” she said looking at Michael.

“What did she say?”

“She isn’t alone” Isabel answered.

“What do you mean, she’s not alone?” Michael asked.

“Michael...she’s pregnant,” Isabel said.

Pregnant? How could that be? They had only slept together once. And that was like eight months ago.

“Michael why didn’t you tell us” Max demanded.

“Newsflash Maxwell. I don’t tell you everything,” Michael said.

Why should he tell Max that he and Maria had slept together?

That was private.

“Besides...we only did it one time. And that was eight months ago”.

“What? How can that be?” Isabel asked, turned to Max.

“It means that either Maria has kept something from you Michael. Or maybe the pregnancy is different because Michael is an alien” Max said.

Maria couldn’t have slept with someone else, Michael thought. But that would mean that the baby was his. That he was going to be a father.

“It is definatly alternative number 2” Michael said with confidant in his voice, but not in his heart. “Maria hasn’t hidden anything from me”.

“Maybe we should call Liz” Max said. “Maybe she knows something we don’t”.

“Yeah. Do that” Isabel agreed. “But the important thing right now is to come up with a plan to get Maria back. The other stuff we can work out later”.

Max went out of the room and left Michael and Isabel alone.

“She hasn’t slept with anyone else” Isabel said and reached for Michael’s hand. “She loves you to much”.

“I don’t know Izzy. She was pretty upset with me for a while” Michael said.

“Yeah” Isabel said with a laugh. “Remember when she hit you with that frying pan?”

“Remember?” Michael asked. “I have a scar left from it”.

He smiled when he thought about all the crazy things that Maria had done.

For a while Michael and Isabel just sat there and smiled when they remembered Maria.

But suddenly Isabel turned serious.

“Michael, we will find her,” she said, looking Michael in the eyes. “And we will find out about that other stuff too”.

“I hope so” Michael said and squeezed Isabel´s hand. “I sure hope so”...

Part 4

Maria was pacing around in the small, white room. She couldn’t believe that she was here. Well, actually she didn’t know where here was, but she had realised that it wasn’t a good place.

Especially since a man had brought her here with a knife a knife in his hand.

And another man had then later told her that she was pregnant.

And that didn’t make any sense, because the one and only time she had slept with someone, was like eight months ago. With Michael.

Just thinking about it made her whole body ace for him. That night had been soooo amazing.

The day after Michael had told her that it had been a mistake. And although that didn’t surprise Maria, coming from Michael, she once again let him hurt her.

Later when they got back together again they hadn’t talked about it. It was like a forbidden topic.

But that one-time eight months ago couldn’t have made her pregnant. But she was.

But it was weird, because Maria hadn’t gotten any signs of the fact that she was carrying a baby inside her. No morning sickness, no kicks from the baby. And even weirder was that she wasn’t showing. And if Michael was the father she should be giving birth within a month. And he had to be the father. Anything else was biologically impossible.

Anyway, Maria´s biggest problem right now was to figure out a way to get out of this place.

And she would prefer to do it before they had time to make anymore tests.

They had already done enough to her to make her whole body hurt.

But before she figured out a way to escape, all she could do was wait and hope.

Hope that her friends would find her and save her.

Don’t forget that there is someone else involved now too, she reminded herself. Don’t forget about the baby...

Isabel tossed and turned in her bed.

As usual her thoughts went to Alex. But this night it was different somehow. She could really feel and sense Alex, as if he was right there with her. Maybe it was just because Maria was gone, she thought.

Isabel needed Alex more than ever right now. She needed him to hold her in his arms, and tell her that everything was going to work out.

That was probably why she could sense him so strongly tonight.

Isabel opened her eyes, and instead of seeing just darkness, she saw another person. A familiar person. It was Alex.

It’s just a dream, she thought...it’s just your imagination.

She closed her eyes...and then opened them again. Alex was still there.

“Can’t make up your mind if you want to see me, or go back to sleep?” Alex joked.

“It’s really you!” Isabel said in shock.

Oh my god! It was Alex. It was her Alex.

Isabel quickly got out of bed and threw herself in Alex’s arms.

He was there...alive with her. It felt so good to be back in his arms, where she belonged.

This must be the best feeling in the world, Isabel thought.

“Actually...I’m only here permanently,” Alex said. He grabbed both of Isabel´s hands gently, and sat them both down on her bed. “I was sent here on a mission”

“A mission?” Isabel said disappointed. “What kind of a mission?”

“I’m here to help you get Maria back”.

“Really? That’s great!” Isabel said and felt a little better.

At least she was going to get Maria back. And Alex too, if only for a while.

She rested her head on Alex’s shoulder, and tried to get as close to him as possible.

She wanted to feel him as much as she could. She needed to make sure that it was really him.

“Everything is going to work out” Alex said and kissed Isabel on her forehead.

“How did you know that was exactly what I needed to hear?” Isabel asked amazed.

“Because I know you better than you think” Alex whispered in her ear.

“I guess that’s true”...

They sat like that for a while.

Just in silence that spoke louder than any words ever could.

“So what do we do now?” Isabel asked, breaking the silence.

“We get Maria back...and I think I know how to do it” Alex answered.

“If anybody can help us do it, it’s you” Isabel said.

And she really did believe it. Soon they were going to have their friend back. And their group would be complete.

Then she remembered that Alex wasn’t there to stay, and she was filled with sadness.

We will find a way to make that right too, she thought.

Right now she had to focus on Maria.

“I’m not gonna give up until we find her” Isabel said.

“I’m not going to give up either”...

There they sat. The two people who had been ripped apart so sudden.

And now were reunited, just as unexpected.

And even if it was just for a moment in time, it was the best moment of their lives.

Part 5

Max reached out and pressed the off-button on his alarmclock. He wanted to stay in bed longer, but then remembered what he was supposed to do today.

He was going to meet the others at The Crashdown early. They were going to discuss how to get Maria back.

And for that, Max would go up at any time.

He got out of bed and took a quick shower.

Then he pulled on a pair of jeans and a dark blue shirt. Maria had once told him that he looked good in that colour, so he decided to wear that.

That was in that summer when Liz had left and went to Florida.

That was the worst time in his life. But Maria had been there for him and helped him. She had been having problems of her one with that whole Michael-crap, so they kind of knew what the other one was going through.

Luckily he and Liz got back together and so did Maria and Michael. After that he and Maria hadn’t had a lot of time to hang out. He missed that.

He missed how Maria could always make him laugh and make him forget his problems.

Max promised himself that when she was back, he would see to it that they spent more “Girlfriend-time” together.

But of course that didn’t mean that he would spend less time with Liz. He couldn’t even bare the thought of that.

But right now he had to get going...

Liz's face lightened up when she saw Max enter The Crashdown. She went up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

Then she took his hand, and they sat down in their usual booth.

Michael and Tess sat opposite to them and Liz could tell that Michael was way off in his own thoughts. He is probably thinking of Maria, she thought.

And why wouldn’t he? That was all she had been able to think about since last night.

“So where is Isabel?” Tess asked, turned to Max. “Why didn’t she come with you?”

“She said that she has a surprise for us” Max answered. “Something that could help us get Maria back”.

“Really?” Michael said, suddenly directing all of is attention to the others.

“Don’t get your hopes up too much” Max said quickly. “We don’t know what it is yet”.

“But we are about to find out” Liz said.

Isabel had just entered The Crashdown with a big smile on her face.

Liz couldn’t remember a time when she had seen Isabel this happy since Alex died.

Alex! Suddenly Liz saw him walking in after Isabel.

“Alex!” she screamed and ran over to him.

She hugged him as hard as she could. She couldn’t believe this. Alex was alive. But she had seen his dead body. It didn’t make any sense. But right now she didn’t care. Right now all she cared about was that he was here.

“Are you trying to hug me to death” Alex joked when Liz finally let go of him.

She then stepped aside so that the others could hug him too.

Max went first:

“It’s great to have you back, Alex. We’ve all missed you”.

Then Michael gave him a quick, very manly, hug.

“I’m glad you made it, man,” he said. And that was a lot, coming from Michael.

Tess then stepped over and gave Alex a hug.

“It is great to see you again, Alex!” she said and smiled at him. “I hope you’re here to stay?”

“Actually...I’m not,” Alex said.

“What do you mean?” Liz asked, beginning to feel worried.

“Well...as you all know I died” Alex started. “And all that really happened. I’m still dead”.

“But you’re here” Liz said, confused. This didn’t make any sense.

“I’m here because I was sent here on a mission” Alex explained.

“By who?” Max asked.

“By the ones who rule everything up there”.

“Up there?” Michael asked.

“I’m not really allowed to tell you about it. If I did, I would have to kill you” Alex said seriously.

Liz saw Isabel squeeze Alex’s hand and Liz took his other and held on to it hard.

“You don’t have to tell us anything,” Isabel said. “Except for what you know about Maria”.

“Maria?” Michael said. “You know something about Maria?”

He is more worried than I thought, Liz thought to herself. He looked like he was ready to kill someone to get what he wanted. And he is not alone.

Probably everyone in this room is ready to kill for Maria. Liz sure know she would do anything to get her best friend back.

“If we sit down, I will tell you everything I know” Alex said.

They did what he said and Liz felt calmer than before.

Together they could do anything...especially if it had to do with saving Maria...

Part 6

Tess walked down the hall of West Roswell high.

The meeting at The Crashdown had gone quite well in her opinion.

Alex knew were Maria was, so now they only had to get there and save her.

It sounded so simple when she put it like that.

But they didn’t know what the place looked like inside, or were Maria was being held, so they could meet some problems on the way. But they could handle it, Tess thought. Together they could do it.

She smiled to herself. If anyone had told her 6 months ago, that she, Tess Harding, would help save Maria DeLuca, she would have laughed.

Maria was a human and didn’t deserve anyone wasting time on her.

But now Tess didn’t feel like that at all.

She had realised that Maria, Liz and Alex ment more to Max, Michael and Isabel than anything.

And she had dropped the whole Destiny-thing. She knew that it was never going to work out.

She didn’t even like Max in that way. She never really had, she had just been determent that everything that Nasedo had told her was true.

She was glad that it wasn’t. Because now she could feel free to flirt with other guys…like Kyle Valenti.

She really liked Kyle. He was funny, smart (at least most of the times), good-looking.

They really got along great, and Tess hoped that Kyle felt the same way.

Tess hadn’t told Kyle about Maria yet. That she was missing.

She wasn’t sure how he would take it. After all the two of them were practically brother and sister.

Ever since their parents had gotten married, Tess had noticed that they seemed to really like each other. In a totally non-romantic sort of way, Tess added to her thoughts.

Now she really had to get to English-class, or her teacher would kill her.

She quickly opened her locker and grabbed her English-books, and ran towards the classroom.

She stopped and turned around when she heard someone gasp in pain.

She looked around the corner, that she had just passed, and saw a group of people crowding around something. But she couldn’t see what.

She went over there and saw that it was Michael lying on the floor.

She pushed her way pass some people and slid down on the floor next to Michael.

He did not look well. Maybe it was alien-related. She couldn’t risk it.

“Okay, the show is over” she said to the people who were curiously looking at Michael. “Go to your lessons, please. I will take care of this.”

They did what Tess said and soon only Tess and Michael were left.

And Kyle, Tess realised.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, and looked worriedly at Tess and Michael.

“I don’t know, Kyle” Tess answered. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him”.

She gently shook Michael. “Michael” she said. No response.

She shook him harder. “Michael! Wake up”.

Michael opened his eyes and looked directly at Tess.

“Maria” he said slowly. Then he passed out again.

Tess turned to Kyle. “Will you help me get him to The Crashdown?”

That was the only place Tess could think of, where they could take him.

“We can call the others when we get there” she continued.

“Sure” Kyle answered.

And the two teens carried Michael out of the school, into Kyle’s car, and to the restaurant that was like their headquarters.

They took him in the back-way as they both knew were the key was.

Liz had told everybody where it was, in case of an emergency. And this was definatly an emergency.

“I´ll go call the others,” Kyle said.

Tess sat down next to the bed that they had laid Michael in, and took his hand.

What was going on with him, she wondered…?

Part 7

“Oh my god!” Isabel said when she, Max and Liz burst in to the room 20 minutes later. “What happened to him?”

She ran to the bed and took Michael’s hands in hers.

“He collapsed in school” Tess explained. “Kyle and I took him here. Is that okay Liz?”

“Of course” Liz answered.

“How long has he been like this?” Max asked.

“About 20 minutes” Tess answered. “But he woke up once. Right before we took him here.”

“Did he say anything?” Liz asked.

“Actually…the only thing he said was Maria.”

“Maria?” Liz asked.

“Yeah.”

“Maybe I should see if can make a connection to him, and see what’s going on with him” Max said and took a step towards Michael.

He gently released Isabel´s hands from Michael’s, and took one himself.

He closed his eyes and tried to make the connection…

“Maria!” Michael yelled. “Maria!”

“You don’t have to scream spaceboy. I’m right here,” Maria said with a smile on her face.

“Maria! It’s really you” Michael said.

“Yeah, it’s me. So don’t just stand there like some alien-freak. Come and give me a hug.”

Michael was in front of Maria in two long strides. Then he pulled her into his arms.

God, it felt good to feel her. To smell her and touch her again. Michael felt like it had been years.

He pulled away and looked at her. Really looked at her. She was so beautiful.

“Are you okay?” Michael asked. “They’ve hurt you, haven’t they? I could feel your pain. I could feel everything they did to you.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Maria said.

She gently put her hands behind his head, and pulled his face to hers.

Their lips touched, and Michael felt a tingling sensation run through his whole body.

He deepened the kiss and the sensation grew stronger.

Then Maria suddenly pulled away.

“Although I could stand here and kiss you forever, we do have more important things to do” she said.

Right, Michael thought. For a second he had forget the situation they were in.

For a second he had forgot that this wasn’t reality. This was some kind of alternative universe.

Maybe they had met up in the dreamplane?

But he had been in school when it happened.

Maria interrupted his thoughts.

“So what are we gonna do now?” she asked.

“We are going to get you back.” Michael said and touched her chin. “You and…”

“And the baby” Maria finished for him. “Our baby.”

“Yeah.” It felt weird to hear Maria talk about their baby. “What’s the deal with that anyway” Michael said, trying to sound casual about it.

“What’s the deal?” Maria said smiling. “I actually don’t know. But it has been 8 months already since we…you know.”

“I know” Michael said. He remembered it very clearly. It had been the best night of his life.

“I guess it has something to do with you being an alien-freak” Maria joked. “I just hope it doesn’t come out with green skin and one eye.”

“Hey! I take fully offence to that comment” Michael said, and tried to look hurt.

“Yeah right, stonewall Guerin!” Maria exclaimed.

“That wall is gone you know” Michael said, turning serious. “Thanks to you, hurricane DeLuca. You broke it.”

“One of my proudest moments” Maria said. “But enough about that. What’s your plan? Do you guys know were I am?”

“Alex did.”

“Alex?” Maria asked, obviously confused.

“They sent him here to help us get you back” Michael answered.

“Alex is back? Oh my god! That’s sooooo great!”

Maria started running around in the desert, laughing and screaming Alex’s name.

“Michael” he heard someone say from behind him. Michael turned around and saw Max standing in front of him.

“How did you get here?” he asked.

“I was just about to ask you the same thing,” Max said. “You passed out in school, so I connected to you and then I came here.”

“Max!” Maria yelled and started running towards them.

“I just told her about Alex, Michael explained. “It’s like she’s on a happy-pill or something.”

When Maria reached them she threw herself in Max´s arms.

“This must be my lucky-day” she said when she let go of him. “First Michael comes. And then he tells me that Alex is back. And then you show up here too. What did I do to deserve this?”

“Just being Maria is enough” Max said and smiled at her. “Everybody misses you a lot” he continued. “But not to worry. We have a plan.”

“Yeah? So when am I going to hear about this plan of your's?” Maria asked.

“How about right now?” Max said.

“Sounds like music to my ears.”

Maria grabbed Michael and Max´s hands and started walking.

“Just bring it on,” she said happily.

And while they told her, she kept swaying their hands back and forth.

It felt great to see Maria smile like this, Michael thought.

Although he knew that before he had came, they had tortured her. They had done things to her that Michael didn’t even want his worst enemy to go through.

And he had felt it too. He had felt Maria´s pain like it had been his own.

But when he saw Maria smile and laugh with him and Max, he forgot about all that for a moment…

Part 8

Kyle and Tess sat in Kyle’s room. They had left Liz’s place right after Max and Michael had woken up. Tess had dragged Kyle away and told him that they needed to talk alone.

That she had some bad news...and good news.

He couldn’t believe the story Tess then had told him. That a guy had just come to The Crashdown and threatened them and taken Maria with him.

And their powers hadn’t worked? Why?

It didn’t make any sense. And why Maria? She wasn’t an alien that they could experiment on. But he had got his answer to that one from Tess. She had told him that Maria was pregnant. With an alien-baby. Michael’s baby.

Kyle had just accepted that guy in his almost-sister’s life. And that was only because Tess had told him to.

And now he had made Maria pregnant?

He was so going to make sure that Guerin treated Maria well. That he took care of both her and the baby.

If they got her back, that is. But Kyle knew that they would.

The others had gotten Max back from the bad guys, so why not Maria?

Tess interrupted his thoughts.

“I know this is a lot to take in, Kyle” she said. “You and Maria got pretty close in the past few weeks. But we will get her back. I promise you that.”

Tess’s words were a little bit reassuring for Kyle, but he was still really worried.

What if they didn’t get her back? How was he going to be able to tell Mrs DeLuca? She was going to be crushed.

But he couldn’t think like that.

“I know we will” Kyle said and smiled at Tess. “Now that you have my help it will work out.”

“Oh, big and strong football-Kyle will save the day huh?” Tess teased.

“Exactly” Kyle answered.

“Well that’s good then” Tess said. “Then maybe you can run down to the store and get us some milk, for the pancakes that you are going to make. Jim and Amy is out of town for two more days, remember?

“No can do” Kyle said with a grin. “You told me that you had some good news too? You can’t forget about the good news.”

“Right” Tess said and her face lit up. “Alex is back!”

“Whitman’s back?” Kyle asked. How was that possible? Alex had died.

“Well, at least for a while. He didn’t tell us that much, but he’s here to help us get Maria back.”

“Well that surtenly was good news” Kyle said. “Really good news.”

He smiled at the beautiful girl next to him. “And when we get Maria back, everything will be back to normal” he said. Or at least as normal it could be living with alien friends, Kyle thought to himself.

“Absolutely” Tess agreed...

Michael kept walking around in Max´s room. He had done that for the last hour.

Meanwhile, Max and Isabel had tried to figure out how it was possible for him to meet Maria.

Michael himself had thought about it. It didn’t make any sense. But he didn’t care all that much how it happened, he was just glad that it did.

The time with Maria had been great.

He couldn’t believe that it actually made him this happy to see Maria again.

He had known that he would miss her and all, if she wasn’t around anymore, but he didn’t know that he would miss her this much.

Michael was the guy who didn’t get intense, who didn’t show much emotion.

But when Maria, Liz and Alex had come into his life it had changed..

Before, he had only cared for two people in his whole life; Max and Isabel.

And then suddenly three more people had found out about their secret and everything was turned upside-down.

But Michael was glad that it had happened. He was glad that he had found more people to care about and protect.

He had even started to feel protecting over Tess. It was when she let that whole Destiny-thing go, that he started to see what a good person she was.

Of course Michael would never admit to any if these things out loud. Not yet anyway.

“So how do you think it happened, Michael?” Isabel suddenly asked, interrupting Michael in his thoughts.